EChOSim: The Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory software simulator

TL;DR

EChOSim is a modular, end-to-end simulator designed to evaluate the EChO space mission's ability to detect and analyze exoplanet atmospheres, aiding in mission design and systematic error assessment.

Contribution

It introduces a highly modular software tool capable of simulating various spectrometers for exoplanet transit observations, including existing and proposed instruments.

Findings

Simulates detection capabilities of EChO for exoplanet atmospheres.

Assesses systematic errors affecting exoplanet spectroscopy.

Supports simulation of multiple instruments, including Hubble and Spitzer.

Abstract

EChOSim is the end-to-end time-domain simulator of the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO) space mission. EChOSim has been developed to assess the capability EChO has to detect and characterize the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, and through this revolutionize the knowledge we have of the Milky Way and of our place in the Galaxy. Here we discuss the details of the EChOSim implementation and describe the models used to represent the instrument and to simulate the detection. Software simulators have assumed a central role in the design of new instrumentation and in assessing the level of systematics affecting the measurements of existing experiments. Thanks to its high modularity, EChOSim can simulate basic aspects of several existing and proposed spectrometers for exoplanet transits, including instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer, or ground-based and balloon borne experiments. A discussion of different uses of EChOSim is given, including examples of simulations performed to assess the EChO mission.